Dr. Cheever J. Lyden, 90, died July 16, at the Monarch Center in Saco, after a short illness.
   
Lyden was born in Portland on May 25, 1922, the son of James and Ellen Lyden.  He attended St. Patrick’s Catholic School and graduated from Deering High School in 1940.  He graduated from the third class of the Maine Maritime Academy and served as a Merchant Marine officer during World War II and as a naval lieutenant during the Korean War. He earned his doctorate in Podiatric Medicine and practiced for more than 40 years in Brunswick and Portland.
   
On April 7, 1956 he married Bridget “Bridie” Ward at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Portland, where they remained lifelong congregants.
   
The couple purchased a cottage in Pine Point, where he spent a lifetime on remodeling projects. They loved entertaining the large Ward clan (and anyone claiming to be Irish) at the beach. Lyden especially liked sitting on the sea wall with his closest friends. He enjoyed observing the cold Maine winters from Naples, Fla., with their dear friends Jackie and Shag Merrill, where Lyden volunteered for Habitat for Humanity. He will be long remembered for his dry sense of humor and love for storytelling.
    
Lyden is survived his wife of 56 years; a son, James and his wife, Helene Clehr, of North Logan, Utah; two daughters, Maureen Lyden Green and her husband, Jonathan, of Melrose, Mass., and Anne Lyden and her husband, Alfred Elson, of Barrington, R.I.; six grandchildren Christine, Kathleen, Conan, Keenan, Grace and A.J.; nieces Dottie Keosaian and Pat “P.M.” McAleese; and sisters-in-law Claire and Peggy.

A funeral was held July 20 at Our Lady of Hope Parish, St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Portland. Burial followed at Calvary Cemetery in South Portland.

Those who wish may make contributions in Dr. Lyden’s  memory to: St. Brigid Parish School, 695 Stevens Ave., Portland, ME 04103 or Habitat for Humanity, 565 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101.

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